Frequently Asked Questions about the Project to Install a Driveway onto Jenifer St.

Updated 11/7/11 - for earlier FAQs, please scroll farther down the page

Why is the Co-op keeping the Jenifer St. driveway open two-way through winter?
We had planned to convert the use of the existing driveway to right-turn-only, exit only for as long as six months after the end of construction. However, we were cautioned by traffic experts against using the existing driveway as right-turn-only and exit only during the winter. Winter means more people driving rather than walking or biking; fewer hours of daylight; and slippery road conditions.

Is it possible to make the driveway exit-only in the spring?
That is one option open to us.

If the Co-op chooses to make a change to the use of the driveway, when will that change go into effect?
We expect any change to be made in the spring of 2012.

I see you are conducting a traffic study. Does it take into account pedestrian and bike traffic in addition to cars?
Yes; our previous traffic study did as well.

Updated 5/12/11 - for earlier FAQs, please scroll farther down the page

What's going on with the lighting on the Jenifer St. side of the property?
In summer 2008, the Co-op received a complaint about the safety lighting installed on the Jenifer Street side of the property. That complaint was brought to the management team and included in the initial list of concerns to be addressed with a remodel of that side of the property.

Immediately, the Co-op tried addressing the complaint by decreasing the wattage, shielding the light fixtures, and redirecting the shaft of light from the existing fixtures. Additionally, we consulted with our electricians at Selectric about lowering the wattage on the old lights. They warned us that they would not able to change the wattage and recommended we replace the fixtures entirely.
Ultimately, we hired Architect Elizabeth Cwik to provide the structural plans to improve the Jenifer St. facade (motivated in part by a neighbor's request) and the lighting.

The final plan included:

• Painting the building a shade other than white to reduce glare
• Installation of exterior side-mount lighting fixtures with 35 k CFL lamps generating 400 lumen (to replace 3 wall-mount fixtures with 70-watt metal halide lamps generating 5,600  lumens/each). 
• Installation of arbor/green screen to support vining to provide an additional filter for the new exterior side-mount light fixture.

After submitting the plans to the Urban Deign Commission, the plans were approved in summer 2010. We discussed these plans at our Neighborhood Meeting in August 2010. Later, at the recommendation of the Ad-Hoc Driveway Committee, low-impact and motion-sensing lights were installed at the end of the Jenifer Street driveway to provide light and better security for pedestrians.

Updated 10/14/10 - for earlier FAQs, please scroll farther down the page

Where are the ad hoc driveway committee's meeting minutes?
Here:

• August 30th meeting
• September 23rd meeting
• October 12th meeting
• February 15th meeting

Updated 9/13/10 - for earlier FAQs, please scroll farther down the page

I want my voice heard on this issue – how do I do it?
We recommend that you read the FAQ if you haven't already - some questions you have may be answered. Whether you agree or disagree with the Co-op opening the driveway onto Jenifer St. after construction, we want to hear what you have to say. If you’re comfortable being public with your comments, please post them on our update page– even a simple “I oppose/support the opening of the driveway onto Jenifer Street outside of street reconstruction” is helpful for us. If you prefer more privacy, please send your e-mail to

- your message will be shared with our Board and the ad hoc driveway committee.

Is Co-op property subject to a conditional use agreement or zoning restrictions that require certain conditions be met before installing a driveway?
No, it is is not. We own the property on Jenifer St., and are permitted by the City to install a driveway onto that street so long as it meets City regulations in its design and construction.

How do you explain having published references to a conditional use agreement or the like?
For years, we misunderstood our rights. As we began to publish information about our parking lot and traffic issues, a few members of our neighborhood voiced concerns; one specifically requested the conditional use agreement language regarding a Jenifer St. driveway. In the process of researching this, we learned, first from the City and later it was confirmed by our attorney, that we are under no restriction with regard to installing a driveway from Jenifer St. onto our property.

Once you realized that the Co-op didn't need a conditional use permit, did you notify any "driveway stakeholders" of this discovery?
Once we realized we didn’t need a conditional use permit, we met repeatedly with our architect, city staff, our alder and our Board of Directors to discuss this project. Although we sent out the letter to the neighborhood on August 2nd, held the neighborhood meeting on August 16th and posted the plans on the website soon after the meeting, we regret not informing adjacent neighbors sooner than we did. Once we heard the concerns of the neighbors at the Aug 16th meeting we immediately committed to improving communications.

Are you going to build a driveway onto Jenifer St. despite opposition?
Yes, we are. A Jenifer Street driveway will be installed in October or November and will necessarily be built of lasting, "permanent" materials. City ordinance requires concrete, asphalt, or similar construction. But we have not yet decided if we will keep this driveway open to motorized traffic other than during next year's Williamson Street road reconstruction. The exact terms under which it could be open are yet to be determined (hours of operation, for example). E-mails to

and comments posted on our website, in addition to criteria recommended by the ad hoc committee, will help shape our decision.

How will you decide whether or not to keep the driveway open after street reconstruction?
Ultimately our goals are to increase overall neighborhood safety and to reduce congestion in and around our lot for all users. Our decision regarding whether or not - and under what circumstances - the driveway will remain open to car traffic will be based on how well it meets these goals. We agreed with the suggestion made at the August 16th meeting to form an ad hoc driveway committee to develop criteria on which to base use decisions. This committee first met Aug. 31st; information about this and future meetings will be posted.

Does this driveway ad hoc committee have a stated purpose?
Yes: "Establish evaluation criteria on the driveway’s impacts on ped/bike safety, traffic control and drainage and long-term management of the Jenifer St. driveway."

How can I contribute suggested criteria for determining the use of the driveway?
Post ideas on our update pageor e-mail

and we will make sure the driveway committee gets them.

Where are the minutes from the August 16th neighborhood meeting?
Here.

Updated 9/5/10 - for earlier FAQs, please scroll farther down the page

Is it true that the Co-op kicked protesters off the Co-op property on Friday (9/3/10)?
Yes, though we wouldn't describe it as "kicking" them off—our interactions were cordial, professional and consistent with past actions. Here is what happened. Our Manager on Duty observed a few protesters gathered at the Jenifer Street bike path area approaching customers on their way into the lot. These protesters had not requested or been granted permission to solicit signatures or to campaign on Co-op property. The Co-op does have a process for allowing groups to have access to our customers (our Tabling Policy), but per that policy, "Aggressive canvassing or 'hard-sell' tactics are never allowed and may result in a suspension of that organization’s privilege to table on WSGC property." If a group or individual does not receive permission and/or does not agree to these terms, we ask them to move to the sidewalk, which is public property. This is a routine practice we have employed many times before to support the comfort of our customers.

Our Manager on Duty gave information on how to pursue tabling at the Co-op to a few of the folks protesting at the Jenifer Street and Willy Street areas of the Co-op parking lot. As of this writing (9/5), we had not received a request from anyone representing these protesters but have received some complaints and, accordingly, we asked them not to approach our customers.

Our Tabling Policy is on our website and is posted outside our building. Please note, having heard that a few owners were considering protesting, the management team anticipated making an exception to this policy—as we do from time to time. In this case, while our policy centers around allowing charitable organizations space and time to table, it was and remains obvious to us that our own owners should have the chance to convey their perspective on Co-op related issues to our shoppers. We would ask that information conveyed by Owners be factual and that they take care to clearly state they are not representing the Co-op itself, but their own views.

This is our Tabling Policy:

Updated 8/27/10 - for earlier FAQs, please scroll farther down the page

What have you done so far to address safety and congestion concerns?
Over the last four years we have stepped up our pursuit of methods to reduce traffic and increase safety. These efforts have included:

• Increasing the amount of bike parking, including trailer specific parking.
• Starting to sell bus passes.
• Ticketing in our lot (during open hours) for cars parked more than two hours, discouraging use by those exclusively patronizing other businesses.
• Allowing shoppers to leave their car in our lot while doing quick errands at neighboring businesses.
• Publishing and periodically reminding our customers about when our store is least busy (see chart).
• Designing and promoting our online shopping and delivery program (Co-Shop) to allow not only for full service, but also easy pick-up or in-store shopping and delivery.
• Requesting the City to remove on-street parking next to and opposite our driveway to allow better traffic flow around our driveway. They tested this and made the changes permanent in 2009.
• Participating in the Bicycle Benefits program with and which we envision constantly offering varied and exciting deals with itto our owners.
• Pursuing a site for a second store that is expected to reduce traffic to and in our Willy East store by about 10% in the short term.
• Writing to our owners in the Reader to encourage walking, biking, or busing to the store ("Parking at the Co-op," 2007).
• Fielding and considering many complaints and ideas over the past 11 years about this.

Although more than five years ago traffic and parking lot congestion weren’t yet as pressing issues as they are today, they have always been a concern. Some of the steps we took from 1998–2006 to try to keep our lot and driveway safe included:

• Limiting left turns out of our 1221 lot and improving the original signage about this.
• Installing the bicycle driveway we now want to convert to a bike & car driveway.
• Disallowing staff to park in our lot and discouraging class attendees from doing so too.  Also limiting classes on the weekends and declining rental of the Community Room during the store's busiest periods.
• Looking into adding a driveway on Williamson (and learning it would be too close to the traffic light on Baldwin and thus would not be allowed by the City).
• Looking into having a traffic light at our driveway (and learning that it is too close to the fire station—that lines of cars waiting for a light at our driveway had too great a potential to block in fire trucks—and thus would not be allowed by the City).

When you bought 1221 Williamson St. in 1999, did the general manager promise to never put in a driveway onto Jenifer St.?
No, she did not. (Anya Firszt, the current GM, held the same position in 1999.) At the request of the neighbors she agreed to remove existing driveways onto Jenifer St. before the Co-op opened. At the time we had 4,500 Owners; now we have over 20,000. Traffic and safety issues exist now that didn't exist for us 11 years ago.

Are there other ideas for reducing traffic or improving safety you have not yet fully researched or implemented?
We have gotten many suggestions from Owners, City traffic engineers and our alder over the years and had many other ideas ourselves. We recognize and even hope there may be some we haven’t yet considered. We welcome any suggestions, whoever they are from—please e-mail them to

. We hope to get even more ideas from our current ad hoc committee work.

Where is the link to your traffic study?
A PDF of the document is here.

Can you link to the City of Madison Accident report you refer to?
The 2009 City of Madison WI, Crash Report (pdf) is linked from the City of Madison Traffic Engineering current studies page. The data most pertinent to us are listed on page 14, which is below. 

Where are the project plans for this project?
Here are the PDFs. General instructions to viewer: Pay close attention to arrows connected to descriptions, text appears beside or near the item/feature it is describing. See example:

• Page 1 .... Cover Sheet
• Page 2 .... Existing Lot Conditions
  • Corrections
    • West side lot Bike lane described as a sidewalk
    • West side lot Handicap Parking labeled as Differently Abled
• Page 3 ... New lot layout Phase 1 and 2 details
• Page 4 ... East side lot drain plan
• Page 5 ... Erosion control plan (where the water will run to)
• Page 6... Detail of drain , bike rack, Handicaped parking signage, bollard, Stop sign, and speed bump
• Page 7... Detail of Rock Flume features, lot striping, curb, and materials
• Page 8... Landscaping plan

Posted 8/19/10

Why does the Co-op want to install a driveway?
The main reasons for installing a driveway as part of the overall parking lot improvement project are:

• to ease congestion in and around our lot – for years we have received Owner complaints about this, despite measures taken (directional arrows, for example)
• to improve safety on Williamson St. – again, for years we’ve received Owner complaints about this, despite measures taken (having a parking space on Williamson between the fire station and Willy East removed, for example). The 2009 Madison Crash Report also identified the 1200 block of Williamson St. as the third-highest non-intersection crash site.
• to provide a way into the Co-op parking lot for customers and delivery trucks during Williamson St. road construction (currently scheduled for 2011).

Is the Co-op zoned for a driveway onto Jenifer St.?
Yes, we are zoned C1.

What has the Co-op done to arrive at this plan?
Co-op management has met with some concerned neighbors and our Alder. We have also consulted experts on traffic management, parking lot design, and storm water management. 

Why hasn’t the Co-op responded to the MNA or other listserve postings about the driveway?
Willy Street Co-op communicates via direct communication, newsletter, letters to the neighborhood, in-store signage, our website and Facebook. When we post on a listserve, it tends to be a brief notice directing people to these other sources of information. Many people who have posted questions on listserves have been e-mailed personally, and some of these questions have been used for this FAQ.

I have a question or concern that isn’t addressed on this FAQ – who do I talk to?
Please e-mail driveway@willystreet.coop; if you don’t have access to e-mail, please call Wynston Estis at 608-251-0884 or leave a note for her at the Customer Service desk. The Board will be apprised of all concerns, and your question(s) will be routed to the person who can best answer it. We will do our best to answer all questions, and will take into account all ideas and proposals.